When Life Hands You Lemons
by Little Miss Whitlock
Summary: Seven year-old Alice and Bella open a lemonade stand. My entry into The Kid Contest. A/H, AU


The Kid Contest

Title Of Entry: When Life Hands You Lemons

Penname: Little Miss Whitlock

Word Count: 4344

Genre: Fun/Adventure

Disclaimer: I wished I owned Twilight but I don't—but the lady who does is nice enough to let me play around with them without legal penalty. For that, I am grateful.

[ Alice ]

I let out a heavy sigh as I folded up the last sweater and put it in the giant box. Moving was a pain in the ass, and no matter how many times I did it, it never got any easier.

"Next time I do this I am throwing everything out," I huffed to myself. I taped up the box and labeled it 'Clothing' before scooting it across the room into the corner with the other boxes. I grabbed a new box and assembled it before looking around the room.

I spotted my bookshelf and decided it was either now or never—I had to tackle that beast eventually. I brought the box next to it and began placing my textbooks into the bottom. I hummed lightly to myself as I worked, eliminating half the shelves in no time. I wiped them down when they were empty and smiled to myself, proud of my hard work.

The third shelf held trinkets and pictures, so I began to wrap some of the fragile ones in bubble wrap. When I got to the back of the shelf, I pulled out an old wooden frame chipped with paint.

I smiled. I remembered exactly when this photo was taken.

******

[ Flashback to a 7-year old Alice Brandon ]

I giggled excitedly as I rode my new purple scooter over to Bella's house. I just turned seven and my parents said I was old enough to go down the block by myself. This was my first trip anywhere alone and I was so excited!

I ditched my scooter on the lawn and ran up the steps to the front door. Getting on my tip toes, I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer.

A few seconds later the door flew open and Bella smiled at me. "Alice!"

"Hi, Bella!"

She looked around. "Where's your Mom and Dad?"

I grinned. "I came all by myself!"

Hey eyes got real big and she offered me a high-five and I gave her one. I walked inside and took off my backpack.

"What did you bring?" Bella asked curiously.

I smiled and giggled. "A surprise!"

Bella groaned. "I hate surprises!"

I shook my head. "No, you'll love this one I promise!"

She shrugged and grabbed my arm, dragging me. "Come look what Daddy is doing with Uncle Billy!"

We walked out the back door into the yard. Bella's dad and uncle were building something that Bella was really excited about.

"Is it a tree house?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"Is it a princess castle?" I squealed.

She shook her head again. "No, it's better!"

My jaw dropped. "What could be better than a princess castle?!"

She clapped excitedly. "A lemonade stand!"

I stared at her. "A lemonade stand is better than a princess castle?"

She started jumping in place. "Yes! We can sell lemonade and make money!"

I squealed in excitement. "Ooh, I love money!"

Bella sighed. "The only thing is, we have to watch Jake while they are working," she groaned.

I looked over at the little boy who was playing in Bella's sandbox. He was giggling to himself and eating sand. Bella ran over to him and pulled his hands out of his mouth.

"Jake, no! Do NOT eat sand!"

I walked over and sat down in the box and began building next to him. He turned to me and smiled. "Awwice!"

"Hi, Jake, can I play with you?"

He nodded eagerly and clapped his hands. Bella finally gave in and started playing with us, too. We must have been there for over an hour when Bella's dad walked over.

"All done, girls!"

Bella and I looked at each other and grinned. "Hooray!" I shouted.

Billy strolled over and picked up Jake, surprising him, and he started laughing.

"Thank you, thank you!" Bella yelled, getting up to hug Billy around his legs and then her dad. Mr. Swan picked her up and swung her around before putting her back down.

"Here's the rule: have fun and make lots of money," he said.

We both cheered when Mr. Swan said he'd take us to the grocery store to get "supplies." After Mr. Black left with Jake, we climbed into the police car. Riding in it was fun, and once in a while Mr. Swan would let us honk the horn or turn the siren on. It made the boys jealous because Mr. Swan never let them honk the horn.

We bought lemonade mix, paper cups, napkins, and some lemons. As soon as we got back to Bella's house we ran to the kitchen in search of a pitcher. We quickly made our first jug and put it in the fridge to get cold. Bella grabbed her markers and poster board and we sprawled out on the living room floor and made our sign. When we were done, we stood back and smiled.

Bella and Alice's Lemonade—Fifty cents a glass.

We high-fived and grabbed the tape and our lemonade supplies. Mr. Swan carried our stand out to the front of the house and brought us two chairs. We hung up the sign and set up our drinks. I ran back inside to grab my backpack and brought it out near us.

"Do you want to see the surprise now?" I asked as we sat behind the table to wait for a customer.

She nodded.

I reached into my bag and pulled it out, handing it to her.

She smiled and squealed. "Rock candy—my favorite!"

I bobbed my head excitedly. "And I got you purple because I know you like it best!"

"Thanks, Alice! What color did you get?"

I held mine up to her. "Pink!"

We ripped the wrappers off and ate our candy. We talked about other girls in our class; rumor was going around that Lauren Mallory wasn't at school Friday because she had cooties.

Eventually one of Bella's neighbors came over. He smiled at us. "Hey girls, how's business?"

We smiled. "Great! Would you like to buy some lemonade?"

He smiled and pulled out his wallet. "Sure, why don't you give me two glasses?"

Bella poured them while I took the money and stuck it in the jar we had stolen from Mr. Swan's bedroom. There was already some money in it when we found it, so we figured this way we could make change.

He took the drinks and nodded his head at us. "Good luck and thanks for the drinks!"

He walked away and I turned to Bella. "We made a dollar!"

We danced excitedly and started talking about all the things we wanted to buy with the money we were going to make. This went on for a few hours and business remained good. When we were counting our money out later that afternoon, we had made twenty dollars!

Bella was letting me put some of my mom's make-up on her that I had 'borrowed' when we heard someone walking up to us.

"Well, well, if it isn't Smelly Belly and Alice in Wonderland."

I frowned. "Go away, Emmett."

He grabbed at his chest. "Oh, Alice, I am so hurt!"

I rolled my eyes. "What do you want?"

He walked up to the table and inspected our sign. "Bella and Alice's Lemonade—how cute."

"Emmett, stop being mean!" Bella whined, which only egged him on.

"Stop being mean!" He mocked, rubbing his eyes with his fists and pretending to cry.

I stood up from my chair and glared at him. "Do you want to buy some lemonade or not?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I want a sample first."

"A sample?"

"Yes—if it tastes bad, I'm not going to buy any."

"For your information, Emmett McCarty, our lemonade is the BEST—we have made twenty dollars today! So there!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

I nodded, my hands on my hips. "Yes! So either buy some lemonade or get out of here!"

He thought for a second, looking between Bella and me. Emmett had been a bully towards us as long as I could remember. He was two years older than us and lived on our street. For years he'd made Bella cry just because he thought it was funny. Well, he didn't think it was so funny when I popped his bicycle tire last Christmas and he had to walk home in the snow!

"Alright, give me a glass," he said.

I held out my hand. "Give me the money first."

"Oh, Alice in Wonderland, don't you trust me?"

I wiggled my fingers, my palm out. "Money first."

He sighed and dug around in his pocket, pulling out two quarters. I held the jar out, not even wanting to touch his skin.

"Put it in the jar," I said forcefully.

Emmett looked between us for a second, dropping his quarters into the jar. In a split second, so fast I couldn't stop it, he grabbed the jar and took off running.

"Emmett McCarty!!" I screamed, taking off behind him.

I could hear Bella yelling behind me as I gained on Emmett. He turned around to look behind him and laughed.

"Oh, Alice, you will NEVER catch me!" He called, picking up his pace.

After running a block or so, I was out of breath and Emmett was long gone. I stopped on the sidewalk, my hands on my knees, and tried to catch my breath. After a few minutes I turned back and started walking to Bella's house.

She was crying when I got there and I gave her a hug. "Don't worry, Bella, he is not getting away with this."

She looked up at me. "Yes he will! He's twice as big as you, Alice! He's fast and strong!"

I shook my head. "But he's not smart."

"Who's not smart?" a voice asked.

We turned and standing in front of us were Edward Cullen and Jasper Hale, two boys from our class.

"Hi, boys!" I said cheerfully.

Jasper looked between me and Bella, while Edward looked over at Bella.

"Why are you crying?" Edward asked her.

She sniffled and looked away. "I'm not crying."

Jasper looked over at me. "What happened?"

I sighed dramatically. "We were robbed!"

Jasper's eyes got big. "Robbed?!"

I nodded. "Yes, robbed! Emmett McCarty came by and he stole all our money!"

Edward looked over at me. "Why would he do that?"

I glared at him. "Emmett is a bully. He likes to make girls cry. Why wouldn't he do that?!"

Jasper sighed. "Okay, calm down." He looked over at Edward, who was shaking his head no. "Yes, Edward—if we don't help them and my mama finds out, I am gonna get a lickin'! She'll take after me with a wooden spoon!"

Edward sighed and looked back at Bella. "Fine, we'll go get your money back."

Bella smiled and I clapped. "Thank you guys!"

Jasper nodded. "It's not really a big deal—I just don't wanna get in trouble."

I smiled. "Well, thank you."

Jasper looked at Edward. "Let's go, I think I know where Emmett's at."

The two boys jumped on their bikes and headed off down the street.

"Do you think they'll get the money back?"

I shrugged. "I hope so—if not, I'm taking Emmett down myself."

******

[Present day Alice]

I heard a soft knock on my door and turned to see Edward standing there. I smiled.

"Whatcha doin, Allie Cat?"

I waved him over and held up the picture frame. He shook his head and laughed softly.

"I remember that day—oh boy, do I remember that day."

I put the frame back on the shelf. "I remember you were so darn stubborn—you didn't wanna help me or Bella at all…and I just couldn't figure it out. We were always nice to you but you just had to go and be a boy about everything…"

"Well, in case you didn't notice, I am a boy," he laughed. "Do you need any help packing?"

I shrugged. "I think I've got a good hold on things…I just can't believe I'm moving again. Didn't I just move?"

He slung his arm around my shoulder and directed me to the bed. We both plopped down, our backs hitting the bed as we stared up at the ceiling.

"Those other times don't necessarily count. When you move back to college in the fall you only take a little bit of stuff. This is your first big move since we graduated—this is technically your first big move."

I poked his side. "You're still as annoying as you were back when we were kids."

He pouted, stretching his legs up to the ceiling. "Hey, you didn't think I was annoying the day Jasper and I rescued your money…"

I laughed. "You know, I don't think you ever told me what really happened that day."

A smile crept up on his face and I swear Edward giggled.

"Well, if you really wanna know…"

******

[ Edward ]

[ Flashback to 7 year old Edward ]

We pedaled down the street a ways before Jasper slowed next to me.

"Are we really going to get their money back for them?" I asked.

Jasper nodded. "My Dad says a true gentleman always rescues a lady in a time of need."

I scrunched up my nose. "Why do we have to be gentlemen? Alice and Bella are not ladies, they are girls."

Jasper shrugged. "My Dad always says girls should be treated like ladies."

I sighed. "I don't know about all that, but if it will get me a raise in my allowance, I'm all for it."

"I think, if I know Emmett, that he's probably down at the General Store buying candy with the girls' money," Jasper said.

I nodded and looked at my watch. "I just have to be home for dinner."

He nodded. "Yep, it's my turn to set the table tonight."

We biked the rest of the way to the store and locked our bikes into the rack. I nudged Jasper when we looked through the window and saw Emmett with an armful of candy.

The doorbell chimed as we walked in and the man at the register nodded at us. We walked through an aisle behind Emmett and when he turned the corner, slammed straight into us, dropping the candy.

"Hey, Emmett!" Jasper smiled.

Emmett was scrambling to grab his candy bars. He looked up and gave a half-smile. "Edward, Jasper."

"What's going on? Did you get your allowance early?" Jasper questioned with this no-nonsense look in his eye. I thought maybe he would be a good cop when he grew up.

"This? Oh um. Well, you see…"

I stood there glaring at him. As much as I didn't like the girls, I knew that stealing from them was wrong. Sure, from time to time we'd tease them, but isn't that what we were supposed to do? Girls had cooties and smelled funny and laughed too much.

Jasper leaned against the aisle. "You wouldn't happen to have come across twenty dollars, would you?"

Emmett was almost sweating now—he was much bigger than Jasper and could probably beat us both up. But for some reason, he was nervous around Jasper; it seemed like he could really get to the bottom of whatever was happening around him.

"Yeah, Emmett, where'd you get all the money from? That looks like at least 10 bucks worth right there…"

He narrowed his eyes. "It's my money, alright?"

Jasper's eyes turned to small slits and from the corner of my eye I saw his fist clench. I had never seen him hit anyone, and I got really nervous.

"Somehow I don't think so," he growled.

"Oh, and what are you gonna do, huh? Go home and tell your mommy on me? Tattle Tale Jasper Hale!" Emmett sang while he did some stupid dance.

It was in that moment that I earned respect for Jasper. In one second, his face transformed into anger and the next moment he had jumped on Emmett and was punching the daylights out of him. Emmett was screaming like a girl and trying to cover his face, but Jasper kept punching.

"Boys! Boys, stop it!" The store owner called.

My instincts kicked in and I leaned down and grabbed the money out of Emmett's pocket.

"Go, Edward, go!" Jasper shouted.

I stood up and took off for the front of the store. I pushed the door open and hopped on my bike, pedaling as fast as I could. I was panting and my legs were burning and I turned down the street to Bella's house. I slowed down and let the last couple of blocks pass me by slowly. When I saw the turn off for Bella's driveway, the girls were sitting on the driveway drawing on the sidewalk with chalk.

I jumped off my bike and threw it down into the grass. I walked over to the girls and they looked up at me.

"Where's Jasper?" Alice asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "He, uh, might be in a bit of trouble…"

Bella stared at me. "Trouble?"

I dug in my pocket and pulled out the money, handing it to Alice. "Here's your money."

She looked up at me and smiled. "Thank you, Edward!"

I shrugged again, ready to get out of there. I knew it was getting late, and being around the girls by myself made me uncomfortable. "Alright, well, bye."

I turned back to my bike when I felt a hand on my arm. I looked back to see Bella throwing herself at me and…she kissed me?!

I pushed her away from me. "Ew! Get away—you have cooties! Gross!" I took off running towards my bike and hopped on it, speeding towards home. I didn't stop until I got to my house.

I pushed my bike down next to my Mom's car and rushed in the house.

"Edward—no running in the house!" she called as I rushed to the bathroom. I put water on my face and scrubbed my face with a towel. I ran into my dad's office and grabbed a pen. Placing my hand down on the table I began to draw and recite the rhyme.

"Circle, circle, dot, dot, now I've got my cootie shot. Circle, circle, square, square, now I've got it everywhere."

I dropped the pen and breathed a sigh of relief, sinking into my Dad's big desk chair.

"Edward, come set the table!" Mom yelled from the kitchen.

I got up and went into the kitchen, taking the plates she had pulled down and setting them on the table. I grabbed some silverware and placed them next to the plates. As I was walking back into the kitchen for the glasses, my mom grabbed my arm.

"What on Earth is that on your hand?" she asked.

I tried to squirm away from her as she licked her thumb and began to rub at it.

"Edward, stop," she said in the 'mom' tone. I stood there and scowled at her.

"Why did you draw on your hand?"

I shrugged.

Her grip on my arm tightened just a small bit. "Edward Anthony Cullen, you tell me why you drew all over your hand or you'll go to bed with no dessert tonight."

I huffed. "Because Bella kissed me today and I don't wanna get cooties!"

Her eyebrows went so high they almost disappeared into her hair. "Bella Swan kissed you?"

I scrunched my face tightly and shook my head. "It was gross!"

"We'll have to talk to your Father about this," she said.

I pouted. "Am I gonna get in trouble? I didn't do anything…"

She laughed and pushed me out into the dining room. "No, honey. Now go wash that ink off your hand before it becomes permanent."

I was almost to the bathroom when I heard the door open. Dad was home! I took off as fast as I could, almost sliding into him in my socks across the wood floor.

He grabbed me and swung me high in the air and then groaned, pretending his back hurt. "Whoa, my boy—you are getting awfully big!"

I laughed as he put me down and I hugged him tightly. He ruffed up my hair and grabbed my hand.

"What's this? Abstract art?" he joked.

I pulled my hand away quickly and looked down at the ground. "It's nothing." I rushed to the bathroom and began scrubbing my hand free of my Cootie shot.

"Edward, dinner!" Mom called.

I took my seat at the table as my mom began dishing me a plate full of spaghetti. I quietly thanked her and bowed my head as Dad said grace. We started eating and no one really said a word for a few minutes.

Then my mom spoke.

"So, Edward, why don't you tell your Dad what happened today?"

I felt my cheeks burning as he turned to me with a smirk on his face.

"Yes, son, what happened?"

I twirled the noodles on my fork without looking up.

"Edward Anthony," my mom called.

I looked up at them both. "Emmett stole money from Bella and Alice!"

My dad's eyes popped out and my mom began saying "what? what?"

I nodded. "It's true—Bella and Alice had a lemonade stand and he took their money, so Jasper and I went to the store to get it back from him. And he was being mean and Jasper punched him so I took the money and ran. When I got to Bella's house she kissed me!"

I heard my dad laugh until my mom coughed and he looked over at me. "She kissed you? On the lips?"

I looked back down at my plate and nodded.

"Did you like it?"

I looked up at him with wild eyes. "Ew, Dad, no! She gave me cooties! Ick! It was nasty—it was wet and…EW!"

My dad let out a laugh, throwing his head back. "She didn't give you cooties, Edward. Remember last month when I gave you that shot in your arm? That was for cooties."

"Carlisle that was the flu—"

He put his hand up. "Flu and cooties vaccination. Now, Edward, do you feel sick?"

I shook my head. "No."

He nodded. "See? Then you don't have cooties—if you did, you would be showing symptoms by now."

I relaxed some, leaning back against my chair. The phone rang and my parents looked at each other before my mom got up and grabbed it. I continued eating until she came out of the kitchen with her hand on her hip. I gulped.

"That was Mrs. Hale," she announced.

"Is everything alright?" Dad asked.

She looked directly at me. "Edward, when you said Jasper punched Emmett, exactly how many times did he punch him?"

******

[ Present day Alice ]

I was laughing hard. "Are you serious? You thought you were gonna get c-c-cooties?"

He pouted. "Can you give me some credit? I was seven!"

I wiped the tears from my eyes. "No way. Did you ever tell Bella this story?"

He nodded. "Well, not all of it. But I did explain why I ran away from her house that day. She was so upset…"

"You're darn right she was—you pushed her down, Edward, and took off like a banshee!"

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text message. I looked over at his screen.

"Awwwww," I whined out.

He nudged me lightly. "Stop, I can't help it. You said her name and I missed her. I can't believe she stayed on for Summer Session."

"I can. That's typical Bella—wanting to get ahead in her classes." I sat up and picked up the frame again, fingering the worn wood.

"She still has hers, too, you know," he said quietly.

I smiled warmly. "You know that this wood is from the stand, right? Charlie made them for us when we turned 9 and had given up on our business."

Edward nodded. "He's a good man."

I laughed. "You're biased—you have to love him and kiss up to him; you wanna marry his daughter one day."

He blushed and we heard a cough coming from the door. I turned to see Emmett standing there.

"I hate to break up this love fest, but the U-Haul just got here."

I held up the picture frame and shook it in his direction. "Remember this, Emmey Bear?"

He groaned. "I was 8! Give me a break!"

Jasper clapped his hands together as he pushed Emmett aside in the doorway. He saw the picture and smiled victoriously. "Ah yes, the day I kicked your ass and lived to tell the tale!"

"Well, you weren't walking for a few days," Edward mumbled and we all laughed.

"Yea, my ass was so red and sore I had to use one of those doughnuts they give old people!"

Edward answered his phone and started talking low, heading out of the room. I knew it had to be Bella.

Emmett sighed. "That kid is so lovesick it's not even funny."

Jasper tugged me close, placing a small kiss on my temple. "Hey, man, when life hands you lemons…"

I held up the picture and smiled. "Make lemonade!"

******

A/N: Kids will be kids, won't they? Ah, I had so much fun writing this little blurb—if you know me, you know I love Little Cullens showing up in my stories, so this contest was a blessing 

Thanks to my beta, little miss masen. I love her a whole ton!


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